...After visiting nearby Sayama Fudoji to pray for a successful victory on Friday, the Lions held a full-squad practice. Takeya Nakamura is projected to be starting at third and batting clean-up.

Hisanori Watanabe told reporters that he initially doubted Nakamura's ability to come back so soon and added that he was a tough player to knock out. Watanabe sounded confident he'll be fine on defense.

...The Eastern League (Ni-gun) season begins on the 20th for the Lions. Ichi-gun level pitchers Ming-Chieh Hsu, Fumiya Nishiguchi, and Kazuhisa Ishii will likely start the season opener against Yomiuri. That means Yusei Kikuchi's first start official Ni-gun start of the year won't come at least until the 23rd. Kikuchi also won't be traveling with the team for the season opener. Said pitching coachKazuyoshi Ono, "He needs to focus on his practice sessions. All the attention will just be a distraction (if he goes)."